Railroad-rail coupling and bolt



(No Model.)

D. P. HENNINGER. RAILROAD RAIL GOUPLING AND BOLT.

No. 406,348. Patented July 2, 1889.

W'Zzzwew I IwVeI fir W Jazz/@20 1. 67Z7ZZW73 f /j KB J 65 r A5. 650. W b g2 NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID P. IIENNINGER, OF PARIS, MISSOURI.

' Q RAILROAD-RAIL COUPLING AND BOLT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 406,348, dated July 2, 1889.

Application filed September 15 1887. Serial No. 249,814. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, DAVID P. HENNINGER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Paris, in the county of Monroe and State of Missouri, have invented new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Rail Joints, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to that class of railroad-rail joints in which the adjacent ends of the rails are beveled or inclined to lap by each other, and securely connected by selffastening double-headed bolts and lockingpins, without the use of fish-plates, nuts, or other fastenings, as hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the annexed drawings, illustrating the invention, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a railroad-rail joint embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a view of the end of a beveled rail. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the bolts. Fig. at is a perspective view of one of the locking-pins.

The numeral 1 designates a railroad-rail, which is formed about two feet from each end with a shoulder 2, say three-eighths of an inch wide, and from the inner end of this shoulder the rail is beveled throughout its entire vertical thickness to the rail end, which is of the proper lateral thioknessabout threeeighths of an inchto fit into the shoulder 2 of the adjacent rail.

The rails 1 are each formed with the usual tread 3, web 4, and base-flange 5, except that for a distance a little greater than the length of the beveled lap-joint the tread 3 and web 4 are flush on each side of the rail, or, in other words, they are of the same lateral thickness throughout the lap-joint and for a suitable distance beyond the ends of said joint, for the purpose of strengthening the same. The top of the rail is oval, so that the car-wheels will not come in contact with the slight shoulders 2, which are cut into the sides of the rail, and thus the usual pounding and battering of the rail ends by passing car-wheels is avoided.

Each vertical shoulder 2 is formed midway its length with a recess 6, having two horizontal sides 7 and two inclined or converging sides 8, to fit a correspondingly-formed projection 9 on the beveled end of the adjacent rail, the recess 6 and interlocking projection The beveled ends of the rails are each formed with several corresponding bolt-holes 10, that are elongated horizontally, as shown. These bolt-holes receive the bolts 11 and the locking-pins 12, by which said bolts are locked in place. The bolts 11 are each formed with a cylindrical shank 13, of a length equal to the thickness of the rail-joint. On one end of the bolt is a flattened or horizontally-elongated head 14, which will readily pass through the horizontally-elongated bolt-holes 10 when said bolt is presented with its head 14 in a horizontal position. The opposite end of the bolt is square or oblong, and of such size that it will not pass through the bolt-holes in any position. On one side of this square or oblong port-ion of the bolt is a shoulder 15,- for engagement with the square head 16 of the locking-pin 12, by which the bolt is secured in place, the shank of said pin being fiat on the side adjacent to the bolt and rounded on its remaining sides, to fit accurately within the bolt-hole. After the rail ends are placed together the bolts 11 are passed into the boltholes 10 in a horizontal position, and then turned half around, with their shoulders 15 toward that end of the bolt-hole which is to be occupied by the locking-pin. This locking-pin 12 is then forced into place alongside the bolt until its square head 16 springs behind the bolt-shoulder 15, with which it thus engages and holds the bolt securely in place, without any possibility of its becoming dislodged or loosened by jar or strain.

The horizontal elongation of the bolt-holes allows for the expansion and contraction of the rails without looseningthe bolts and locking-pins, the beveled joints and oval form of the rail-tread obviate jolting of the cars and battering of the rail ends, and the interlocking recesses and projections at the ends of the rails prevent any tendency to rising of one rail end above the other. With a railjoint and fastenings of this description the trouble and expense of fish-plates, nuts, and locking-bars are avoided and the road is made more smooth and durable.

I IrVhat I claim as my invention is- 1. In a railroad-rail, the combination, with corresponding projections 9, said beveled rails being provided with horizontally-elongated bolt-holes 10, of the double-headed bolts 11, having cylindrical shanks 13 and shoulders 15, and the locking-pins 12, having square heads 16 to engage the shoulders on the bolts, substantially as described.

DAVID P. HENNINGER.

\Vitnesses:

MATHEW T. BIRD, THOMAS V. DILLS. 

